Monthly Archives: March 2022

Sri Lanka Faces Worst-ever Economic Crisis

Triggering food and fuel shortages and protests by Neville Lazarus, Sky News, UK, March 29, 2022 In the past three months, fuel prices have increased three times, while essential food items have doubled. Sri Lanka is facing its worst-ever economic crisis, which has driven up prices and triggered food and fuel shortages across the country…. Read more »

MGR Remembered – Part 65

Ascendancy in Tamil Nadu Politics by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 30, 2022 Part 64 MGR biographer R. Kannan’s comments, on Part 64, received on Feb.20th was as follows: “Part-64 which I found most informative, tying together the various strands of that period of the cinematic and the political in MGR’s career. Marudhakasi’s memoirs are skillfully employed… Read more »

Annaipoopathy and Mothers Fighting for the Disappeared

by Nillanthan Maha in his blog, March 30, 2022 [translated by Google Translate, with some edits] The mothers of the missing opposed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Jaffna last Sunday. They have been rudely treated by the police. Annai Bhupathi is considered to be the forerunner of Ammuthiya mothers in modern Tamil politics. Thirty-four… Read more »

BTF Exhibit in Geneva

by British Tamils Forum, March 2022 Exhibition & Demonstration at UN Human Rights Council in Geneva March 31 & April 1, 2022   Information displayed at exhibition –> Land Occupied by Government Department in North in Acres Land grab P 3 FINAL Land grab P 4 FINAL    

Random Thoughts of a Tamil Biographer

by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 25, 2022 Table – Select List of Eelam Tamil Biographies in English Having been an honorary columnist to the Sangam site for over the past 20 years, in frequently I do receive fan mail (mostly by email, but rarely by postal mail). Most are appreciative, but a few are pungent… Read more »

What are Thermobaric and Cluster Bombs?

A look at their use by the Sri Lankan army by Tamil Guardian, London, March 2, 2022 Russian manufactured cluster bombs used by the Sri Lankan military, photographed in Vanni, 2008. As Russia continues its offensive in Ukraine, it has been accused of launching deadly types of weaponry during its assault – thermobaric and cluster… Read more »

Sex, Repression & Sanskritization in Sri Lanka 1987

The 1987 Stirling Award Essay by Dennis McGilvray, Ethos, American Anthropological Association, Vol. 16, No. 2 (June 1988), pp. 99-127 The_1987_Stirling_Award_Essay_Sex_Repres Since 1952, when the concept of Sanskritization was first utilized by M. N. Srinivas in his study of the Coorgs of western India, the idea has been a useful, if at times ambiguous, tool… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget

Overspending and Underprotection by Daniel Alphonsus, ISAS South Asia Scan, National University of Singapore, November 18, 2021 Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget Sri Lanka’s internal and external security environments have changed considerably in the last decade. Internally, a three-decade long civil war ended, but the country experienced the first wounds of Islamic terrorism – the… Read more »

COVID-19: The Crossroads for Sinhala–Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka

by Mohamed Imtiyaz Abdul Razak & Amjad Mohamed Saleem, Journal of Asian & African Studies, London, June 2021 https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096211021873 Covid 19 Sinhala-Muslim Relations Abstract Sri Lanka’s ethnic civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, and the government of Sri Lanka comprising the majority of the Sinhalese… Read more »

Sri Lanka in Moment of Crisis with Great Potential for Change

Senior political scientist By Himal Kotelawala, Economy Next, Colombo, March 15, 2022 ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has reached a moment of crisis with a great deal of potential for change, and the conditions for significant change are rife except for leadership, senior political scientist Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda said. In a phone interview with EconomyNext on… Read more »

CSST: Interview with Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan

We can only turn to India for help as it is the regional power by A. Jathindra, Centre for Strategic Studies, Trincomalee, March 5, 2022 Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan is a distinguished academic and law professor, who has been involved in the constitutional process to resolve the national question for several years. She has specialised in… Read more »

Assoc. Thendral Written Statement re Genocidal Intent

by Association Thendral, France, February 7, 2022 Assoc Thendral written statement UNHRC Feb 2022 A/HRC/49/NGO/195 Genocidal Intent The intent of the Sri Lankan government to destroy, in whole or in part, the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, is clear from several categories of evidence: 1) Documentary evidence including court case documents; 2) Legal inference based… Read more »

Statement of India at UNHRC re Sri Lanka

by Permanent Mission of India, Geneva, March 4, 2022 Video Statement of India under Agenda Item 2: Interactive Dialogue on OHCHR’s written report on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka during the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council (28 February – 1 April 2022), delivered by Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, Permanent… Read more »

Statement by HCHR Michelle Bachelet

by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 4, 2022 Video Update and Interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka  Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 49th session of the Human Rights Council 4 March 2022 Distinguished President, Excellencies, Council Members have received our written update on Sri Lanka (A/HRC/49/9). It… Read more »

UN Experts Call for Swift Suspension of Prevention of Terrorism Act

by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 2, 2022 UN human rights experts* have called for an immediate moratorium on the use of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and urged the Government to substantively review and revise the legislation to comply with international human rights law. “There is a… Read more »

Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor

by Verité Research, Colombo, February 2021 Implementation Status UNHRC Res.30.1 Feb 2021 Verite This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since UNHRC’s Resolution 30/1 passed in September 2015.